The Peanuts Movie Review

If you have watch all the Charlie Brown movies, chances are, you might think you've seen much of this movie before. All the same Charlie Brown jokes can be seen in this movie; Charlie Brown flying a kite, Charlie Brown kicking a football, "The little red hair gird", Charlie Brown pitching and the baseball flys towards him making him naked, Snoopy's fantasies, etc.

Most Charlie Brown movies make you feel for Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown fails at everything he does, and does not give up. Most of the other characters are very supportive of Charlie Brown and anticipate his failure, and when Charlie Brown succeeds, it becomes newsworthy.

I'd like to say that this animation of Peanuts is done pretty well. It still feels very much like a Peanuts comic strip, but with 3-D. It‘s also a neat extension of Schulz’s style, but the 3-D makes Pig-Pen's dust look AWESOME.

I like the way the pace of this movie is going and how the stories, especially Snoopy's fantasy is somewhat linked to the storyline unlike other Peanuts movies. The storytelling is spot on. The Snoopy sequence, though non-verbal tells a lot of the story without saying a word.

This movie is also much less dark. With Schulz, Charlie Brown's BIG failure and bittersweet endings in a boy named Charlie Brown, can be a rather depressing movie to watch, but this Peanuts movie, which feels much like a more upbeat reboot of all the Charlie Brown movie reveals Charlie Brown's virtues and eventually having the Little Red hair girl noticing him.

This movie hasn’t been made exclusively for adult nostalgists, many of the kids liked the movie and it is set to inspire a new generation of Peanuts and Snoopy fans.

Overall, this is a great movie, it is actually quite inspiring and feel good at the end. With the good editing, pacing and storytelling, this movie is enjoyable to watch.

Overall: 8/10

-- Robin Low

Shinagawa Prince Hotel Review

I have been in Tokyo several times and this is a pleasant surprise. Shinagawa Prince hotel is a pretty great hotel for about US$100 a night (on Sunday) The room size is surprisingly big for a Hotel in Tokyo area.



Shinagawa Prince Hotel is located about within a 3 minute walk of the Shinagawa station which has Yamanote line which can bring you to popular destination like Harajuku, Shinjuku and Shibuya. The hotel is also connected to a shopping mall with a foodcourt, cinema and a bowling alley.

The rooms are relatively big, and the toilet is very comfortable. Unlike many other 3 - 4 star hotels, this hotel provide toothbrush, hairbrush and razor as well. The only thing I'd like is bottled water, but there is a vending machine on the same level and you can get free ice.

I am impressed by the tour coaches that arrive and there are even several tour coaches with wheel chair access that come to this hotel. From Haneda or Narita Airport, the Airport Limousine located at all the different terminals come directly to this hotel, making it very convenient to arrive for your first night or leave on hour last.

You have a big choice for breakfast at several restaurants in the mall, including "Top of Shinagawa" a restaurant on the 39th floor, overlooking Shinagawa. The buffet choices in most of the restaurants are pretty good.

Overall, I'd say this hotel is pretty good value for money. My stay at this hotel is pretty descent and I look forward to come back again.

Rating:

Location: 8/10
Room: 8/10
Price: 9/10
Breakfast: 8/10
Service: 8/10

This is good value for money.